Hello! Bonjour!
Here's my first entry on The Natterhorn. I have successfully made it to Geneva. The flight over was long and I had a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam. I tried to sleep but it wasn’t very successful despite trying to BORE myself to sleep by watching the in flight movie (16 Blocks starring Bruce Willis and his fake mustache)...... I was greeted at the airport with a "Welcome to Geneva Mr. Bono" sign which made me laugh quite hard… And people were looking presumably wondering “Bono’s coming?”….. No, just Natalie.
So I started work first thing Monday morning. It’s Friday as I’m writing this and I think my body is finally getting used to the new time zone.
My “Flat” is small but I’ll make it work. My television’s only new source is the BBC which is pleasant, indeed. Work is going well; I like the people that are here!! Everyone is being kind and helping me find my way around. I actually take a tram to the United Nations each morning and catch a bus from there to work! Everything here is a little different, in one way or another, but many things are still the same. I still fear getting hit by a car, now I have just amended that to a fear of being hit by a motorbike or a tram as well.
Things I have noticed so far:
1. People say “Toilet” instead of “Washroom” or “restroom”. I realize this is also a primarily British thing but it’s thrown me off none the less…. In my family, saying “I’m going to the toilet” is essentially the equivalent of saying “I’ve gotta take a wiz”. Both of which would get an unapproving tisk from my momma.
2. Many women don’t wear bras. Not sure what this is all about, but I’ve labeled this phenomenon “Bra-ptional”. I do not plan on ever “culturally immersing” myself in this way.
3. In Geneva, Che Guevara has his own line of school and home office accessories. I might splurge on the revolutionary pencil case because I think the binder would be a little intrusive.
4.I really want to improve my French. So I thought the best way would be to start watching subtitled English television. But I’m very limited in my selection. But I’m proud to say that I know how to say “That’s so ghetto”, “I gotta job!”, and “You in the tube top, you gotta git yerself a betta weave” in French thanks to a subtitled episode of Jerry Springer.
That’s all for now, I don’t have internet access at my flat yet, but once I do, my updates will be far more interesting and I’ll put up some pictures…… Because everyone loves a picture.
Miss you…
